Bioshock 2 – The Sophmore Slump

If I were to sum up Bioshock 2 in one word that word would be disappointment. In many ways I feel that this is a game that shouldnt have been made. Bioshock was entirely complete as is. It had a story to tell and a world to tell it in and it conveyed the story and the world to the player through an excellent mixture of graphic spectacle, engaging storytelling and enjoyable gameplay. Needless to say I really enjoyed Bioshock.
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Mass Effect 2 – The difference between good and great

I really enjoyed Mass Effect 1, unlike Jade Empire it actually managed to live up to they hype. While it did have some technical and gameplay issues (texture pop-in, terrible inventory system and those fucking elevators) it was still a great game. In particular I liked the world it was set in. The story itself was also pretty enjoyable and well constructed. So needless to say I was looking forward to Mass Effect 2 quite a bit. Continue reading…

Best of 2008 – Definitive Edition

I think only the lucky or the terminally un-opinionated actually fully enjoy reading Top X lists. For the rest of us it’s an experience all too often filled with bewildering disbelief that some idiots voted item X above item Y even though it’s clearly inferior or why poltroons who engaged in voting entirely forgot about item M. The one advantage of public Top X lists is that they have at least the pretence of objectivity as they’re based on public votes. On the flip side this means they’re an indication of popularity rather than quality (as only the naive believe the two are inseparable). Though I suppose “Top X” has always been shorthand for “Most Popular X” rather than “Best X”. I sure do love me some variables. Continue reading…

Soulcalibur IV – A tale of blades and boobs eternally retold

As a brief prelude, I dont have a huge problem with arguably sexualised videogame characters, especially when it comes to fighters. Both the men and women tend to be scantily clad and in perfect physical condition and thats largely fine with me, though some games are a little too prurient for my liking e.g. Rumble Roses XX. When the characters are sexualised too a point thats distracting to the gameplay or in place of the gameplay then I have a problem (also I spent fucking ages uploading all the various images to imageshack through its shitty interface so click on the links you ungrateful bastards). Anyway on with the show. Continue reading…

Don’t look so frightened, this is just a passing phase

APOC1 – Book 2 – Entry XX – Culled from the apocrypha left by one of the early splinter cults which practiced a debased version of the widespread worship of “Mick”. Recovered from the outlands of Gundalk, one of the areas worst hit by the Fall in 07. The widely meandering and rapidly changing subject and tone is clear evidence of their mental degeneration – within a few (unwieldy) paragraphs it examines the supposed life of Mick, his feelings of existential angst, plans for the future, spirituality and questionable emotional stability. It then veers wildly into a strange discussion of “cosplay” before petering out in a tedious history of his infatuation with fighting games and an alleged round up of the various media products this fabled “Mick” engaged with – barely worth reading as anything other than a historical curiosity Continue reading…

Around the noble god are borrowed things

To quote myself:

“I also think I shall unleash some rating fury on the tried and tested one to five scale (1=crap 2=average 3=good 4=excellent 5=”perfect”). I suppose I should come up with some kind of unit for these as well, but I’ll hold of on that for the moment and go with stars. I would also like to point out in advance that the reason so many of these ratings are so high is that I usually research what I’m downloading/buying and try to weed out the shite in advance.”

Also, because I love you so (and certainly not because I’m an anal retentive with too much spare time), the titles of all the items below are linked to further (and almost certainly more objective) sources of information about the item in question. Continue reading…

What I’ve Watched – First Draft

Hmm, there is quite a bit here, well it has been almost three months, but it still seems like far too much. Perhaps even worse is the fact that I have at least twice this much on my computer never mind the (literal) stack of DVD’s sitting beside my bed that I have yet to open never mind watch. I think I’ll re-arrange these into alphabetical rather than chronological order (as it turned out they ended up arranged in relatively random fashion). I also think I shall unleash some rating fury on the tried and tested one to five scale (1=crap 2=average 3=good 4=excellent 5=”perfect”). I suppose I should come up with some kind of unit for these as well, but I’ll hold of on that for the moment and go with stars. I would also like to point out in advance that the reason so many of these ratings are so high is that I usually research what Im downloading/buying and try to weed out the shite in advance. Continue reading…